Cesium for Omniverse v0.29.0

Cesium for Unity Samples v1.25.1

CesiumJS 1.145

Digital Twins

Developers at Hopeworks have built a digital twin of the city of Camden, New Jersey. Their digital twin, which uses Cesium for Unreal, is used by the Rowan University / Rutgers - Camden Board of Governors and the city of Camden for city planning as part of ongoing revitalization efforts. Hopeworks is helping them to visualize those plans.

Hopeworks visualizes planned development in Camden, New Jersey, using Cesium for Unreal. Courtesy Hopeworks.

To get stakeholder input, architects provide models and designs of the planned buildings, which the developers at Hopeworks turn into 3D models using Blender. They place these Blender models in geospatial context using Cesium for Unreal, with Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles providing a visualization of the surrounding area. Stakeholders can then review designs, analyze community impact, request iterations, and solidify the plan.

Camden New Jersey digital twin by Hopeworks

This process is all the more remarkable because it isn’t just a commercial product: it’s also a training opportunity. Hopeworks is a nonprofit organization in New Jersey and Pennsylvania dedicated to helping young adults gain tech skills in a supportive environment that will launch them into in-demand tech careers.

Hopeworks uses Blender to create 3D models of planned buildings. Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles provide the surrounding geospatial context. Courtesy Hopeworks.

The only requirement to become a trainee at Hopeworks is to be between the ages of 17 and 26. All participants are given the opportunity to receive training, develop skills, and join paid internships where they practice skills for high demand fields and prepare for placement in tech jobs.

Visualizations of planned projects help city stakeholders assess plans for revitalization. Courtesy Hopeworks.

Hopeworks’ digital twin project maintains anywhere from 12 to 16 interns, as well as full-time staff, who have all come through the program themselves. Students come in with no experience in 3D modeling or geospatial development. After first shadowing staff and then participating in the project themselves, they ultimately leave the program with a mature skillset ready for the workforce.

Hopeworks interns gain experience through hands on training. Courtesy Hopeworks.

“Working with Cesium for Unreal allowed us to create a viable product that served a serious need in the community. At the same time, it was accessible enough that it could be built by interns with no prior experience. Watching the team own it and watching it grow has brought a real sense of fulfillment.” 

- John Kissling, Chief Business Officer, Hopeworks

Hopeworks’ digital twin of Camden demonstrates what is possible when emerging developers get the opportunity to work on real-world applications. To begin training for your own digital twin project, try placing objects on a 3D globe in Unreal Engine. And if helping launch young people into brighter futures interests you, Hopeworks is always seeking volunteers, donations, and business opportunities: see how you can get involved.

Hopeworks Builds Camden Digital Twin with Cesium for Unreal

For the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, managing security operations is a monumental task. The Port encompasses nearly 125 square miles, across both land and water, and directly owns close to 35,000 acres. This enormous footprint is spread over two counties with hundreds of facilities, vehicles, and vessels active at any time, and the Port relies on dozens of disparate digital systems for everything from vessel tracking to security. 

“Go into just about any first responder dispatch center, what do you see, screens upon screens to display more and more windows. We knew we needed to create a comprehensive view of Port activities.” 

- Darrell Keach, Business Systems Manager and the Port’s lead for OPTICS

With funding from a Department of Homeland Security grant to enhance critical infrastructure security, the Port brought on The Acceleration Agency (TAA) to build OPTICS, a 3D operational active digital twin that merges many of these systems into a single pane of glass and spatially organizes the data for true comprehensive situational awareness. TAA created both a desktop and mobile app for the Port that integrated live vessel traffic and computer aid dispatch with a geospatial model built using ArcGIS Maps SDK, giving port operators a realistic, real-time view of their environment.

This deployment served its purpose for internal teams; however, the Port is also looking to share this new fused dataset with security partners such as the United States Coast Guard. Deploying the app to external users during a crisis would be cumbersome: granting and revoking access to the secure application, which contains sensitive law enforcement data subject to FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) requirements, created an administrative bottleneck. The port needed a solution that could be rapidly deployed to authorized external users on any device without requiring an installation, and that could also easily rescind access when needed.

Active Digital Twin of the Port of Corpus Christi built by The Acceleration Agencywith ProjectGemini’s SaaS leveraging CesiumJS. Courtesy The Acceleration Agency.

ProjectGemini Cesium Web 7-23-2026

The solution was CesiumJS. TAA developed Project Gemini, their Active Digital Twin platform and framework, which uses CesiumJS for geospatial visualization. The Port’s Active Digital Twin with CesiumJS is designed to give supervisors and dispatchers a better way to view various security-related operations in one single view, wherever they may be located. “Creating a mobile and web version allows us to put much of this data in the hands of officers in the field,” Keach said.

Active Digital Twin of the Port of Corpus Christi built with ProjectGemini’s SaaS leveraging CesiumJS. Users can locate and view live security camera feeds through the intuitive geospatial interface. Courtesy The Acceleration Agency.

After years of investment in OPTICS, creating an entirely new, web-based 3D Active Digital Twin could have been daunting. But because CesiumJS embraces an open ecosystem and the ability to consume ArcGIS content out of the box, the team was able to directly ingest the Port’s existing ArcGIS Enterprise data. Rather than rebuilding the data pipeline from scratch, TAA used CesiumJS to bridge their existing geospatial data with what could be an easily shareable web environment.

The CesiumJS version of the digital twin provides all the same models and real-time updates as the Unity application. Courtesy The Acceleration Agency.

The Port of Corpus Christi digital twin app version created in Unity3D. The desktop version has a photorealistic look while the web version prioritizes performance. Courtesy The Acceleration Agency.

The flexibility of open standards and community-driven development allowed TAA to develop a highly accessible web-based Active Digital Twin. When it’s complete, the Port of Corpus Christi will be able to use the CesiumJS Active Digital Twin to grant secure, temporary access to a real-time operational view during an emergency, empowering rapid, cross-agency collaboration in critical moments.

Detailed information about facilities, together with live information such as lists of vessels currently on site, makes the digital twin an essential tool in understanding the evolving nature of events on site. Courtesy The Acceleration Agency.

To get started with CesiumJS, experiment in Cesium Sandcastle, which has code examples and an AI-driven chat panel for support.

The Acceleration Agency Leverages CesiumJS to Expand Port of Corpus Christi Active Digital Twin

インフラ分野では、現実の施設や現場を3Dデータとして取得し、管理する取り組みが急速に広がっている。 CalTaのTRANCITY ARCADEは、Cesium ion、3D Tiles、Cesium for Unrealを基盤として、教育や訓練、安全理解、施設案内、コミュニケーションのための体験型アプリケーションを実現している。 

工事現場の３Dモデルをゲーミフィケーションコンテンツに使用　(提供：CalTa株式会社) 

点群、写真測量、3Dモデル、Gaussian Splattingなどの技術により、鉄道、発電所、都市空間、公共施設といった複雑な環境を、これまで以上に高精度にデジタル空間へ再現できるようになってきた。 

こうしたデータは、施設の構造を把握し、設備同士の関係を理解し、安全上の注意点を学ぶために活用されている。また、若手技術者に対して、普段は簡単に立ち入ることのできない施設の全体像を伝えたり、地域やステークホルダーにインフラの役割や価値を分かりやすく共有したりすることにも役立っている。 

CalTaとキャドセンターが共同で開発するTRANCITY ARCADEは、、この問いに対する一つの答えである。インフラの3Dデータを、教育、訓練、安全理解、施設案内、コミュニケーションのためのインタラクティブなアプリケーションへ展開し、人々が学び、理解し、共有し、現場での判断に活かせる環境を実現している。 

TRANCITY ARCADEは、写真、点群、3D Gaussian Splattingなどの現実世界のデータから生成された3D空間をもとに、移動ルート、クイズ、インタラクティブなオブジェクトなどを配置し、体験型コンテンツを構築できるプラットフォームである。 

TRANCITY Nebulaで管理される現場データを、Cesium ionを通じて大規模3Dデータとして最適化・配信し、Cesium for Unrealによって地理空間の文脈を保ったままUnreal Engine上のリアルタイム体験へ接続する。 

TRANCITY ARCADE：インフラデータを体験型アプリケーションへ 

従来のTRANCITYやTRANCITY Nebulaは、インフラの3Dデータを取得し、管理し、共有するための基盤として重要な役割を果たしてきた。現場を記録し、点群や3Dモデルを管理し、関係者が同じ空間情報を参照できるようにすることは、インフラデータ活用の出発点である。 

TRANCITY ARCADEの注目すべき点は、TRANCITY Nebulaで取得・管理・共有しているインフラデータを活用し、TRANCITY ARCADEと連携させることで、教育や体験のためのアプリケーションへ展開できる点にある。 

ARCADEでは、現場から取得された3Dデータを、単に閲覧する対象として扱うのではなく、利用者が目的に応じて体験を設計できる空間として扱う。再現された施設や現場の中に、移動ルートを設定する。特定の設備や危険箇所にクイズを配置する。視点を切り替えながら施設全体を理解する。インタラクティブなオブジェクトを通じて、紙資料やスライドでは伝わりにくい現場のスケール感や注意点を学ぶ。 

ここで重要なのは、「ゲーム化」そのものではない。インフラ現場における学習や教育は、単に知識を覚えることではなく、空間の関係性を理解し、状況を判断し、実際の行動に結びつけることが求められる。TRANCITY ARCADEは、現場データをそのような学びの場へ変えるためのアプリケーションである。 

橋りょう点検をテーマにしたゲーミフィケーションコンテンツ　 (提供：CalTa株式会社) 

J-POWERの現場で見えてきた、教育・安全・施設理解のユースケース 

TRANCITY ARCADEの実用性を示す例として、J-POWERにおける取り組みがある。発電所のような大規模インフラ施設では、現場を理解すること自体が簡単ではない。設備は広範囲に分散し、構造は複雑で、すべての場所を自由に見学できるわけではない。安全教育においても、実際のリスクを現場で体験させることには限界がある。 

J-POWERでは、発電所などのインフラ資産を対象に、CalTaと共同でCesium for Unrealを用いたゲーミフィケーションコンテンツの開発・検証を進めている。若手社員や新任者が、施設の全体像を早く理解する。。管理者が、設備や空間の関係性を直感的に説明する。こうした用途において、3D空間は、学習と判断を支える環境になる。 

安全教育の観点でも、このような体験型アプローチには大きな可能性がある。容易に現場へ行くことができない場所や、安全上立ち入りが制限される環境であっても、インタラクティブなクイズなどを通じて、状況理解や学習を行うことができるからである。単に手順を覚えるのではなく、「なぜ危険なのか」「どこに注意を向けるべきなのか」を体験を通じて理解できることは、安全意識の向上にもつながる。 

現実の現場で失敗することは許されなくても、体験空間の中では学ぶための試行錯誤ができる。普段は立ち入ることが難しいインフラ施設を、地域住民や一般のステークホルダーに分かりやすく伝える手段にもなり得る。インフラは社会に不可欠でありながら、その役割や仕組みが一般の人々には見えにくい領域である。 

現実世界の施設を地理空間の文脈を保ったまま体験できることは、インフラの専門家だけでなく一般の人々にとっても、施設や周辺環境への理解を深めることにつながる。Cesiumは、その文脈を維持しながら現実世界のデータをインタラクティブなアプリケーションへ接続することで、こうした体験を支えている。 

TRANCITY ARCADEは、産業向けの3D体験がどこへ向かうのかを示している。それは現実の施設、実際の業務、そこに関わる人々の学びや理解に寄り添うものである。より楽しく、より能動的に、より安全に学べる環境を作ることは、企業にとっても、そこで働く人々にとっても、地域社会にとっても意味がある。

J-POWER と CalTa が検証を進めているゲーミフィケーションコンテンツの画面イメージ（提供：J-POWER）

J-POWER と CalTa が検証を進めているゲーミフィケーションコンテンツの画面イメージ（提供：J-POWER）
Gamified content being developed and evaluated by J-POWER and CalTa. Courtesy J-POWER.

③動画（JPOWER QUESTのプレイ画面）

CalTaとキャドセンターがつなぐ、インフラ知見とリアルタイム3D実装 

この取り組みを支えているのは、CalTaとキャドセンターそれぞれの異なる強みである。CalTaはインフラ現場のデータと業務理解を持ち、キャドセンターはリアルタイム3D表現とインタラクティブな体験設計を実装する力を持っている。TRANCITY ARCADEでは、この二つの専門性がCesiumの地理空間技術と結びつき、現場データを実際に使えるアプリケーションへと展開している。 

やGoogle Photorealistic 3D Tilesのような技術検証、都市空間や施設空間の表現、インタラクティブな体験設計において、開発者としての実装力を持っている。 

CalTaが持つインフラデータ活用の知見と、キャドセンターが持つリアルタイム3D実装力は、 

Cesium ion：3Dデータのホスティング、タイル化、ストリーミングを行うプラットフォーム 

 3D Tiles：大規模な3Dデータを効率的かつ最適化された形で配信・利用するためのフォーマット 

Cesium for Unreal：ゲームエンジン上で3D地理空間エコシステムを活用可能にするプラグイン 

といったCesiumの技術と地理空間基盤の上で結びついている。 TRANCITY ARCADEのもう一つの特徴は、ノーコードアプローチにある。移動ルートやクイズ、インタラクティブなオブジェクトの配置を、専門的なゲーム開発の知識がなくても行うことができる。 

こうして、現場データ、地理空間技術、業務理解、体験設計が統合され、教育や訓練に活用できる産業向けアプリケーションが実現している。 

TRANCITYARCADEでのゲーミフィケーションコンテンツ作成状況　(提供：CalTa株式会社) 

TRANCITYARCADEでのゲーミフィケーションコンテンツ作成状況 (提供：CalTa株式会社) 
Gamified content being created in TRANCITY ARCADE. Courtesy CalTa Inc.

④動画（TRANCITYARCADEでゲーミフィケーションコンテンツ作成状況）

記録された現場から、学びと行動につながる空間へ 

3Dデータの価値は、記録や管理の中だけで完結するものではない。人が理解し、学び、判断し、行動できる形になったとき、その価値はさらに広がる。 

TRANCITY ARCADEは、インフラデータを「見る」ための3Dから、「使う」 

ための3Dへ展開し、教育、安全理解、施設理解といった具体的な業務価値を実現している。Cesiumは、現実世界の3Dデータを地理空間の文脈を保ったまま実用的なアプリケーションへつなぐ基盤を提供している。詳しくは Cesium ionを参照されたい。 

CalTa’s Trancity Arcade Turns Infrastructure Data into Spaces for Learning, Judgment, and Communication with Cesium for Unreal 

Across the infrastructure industry, organizations are increasingly capturing and managing real-world sites and facilities as 3D data. CalTa’s TRANCITY ARCADE uses Cesium ion, 3D Tiles, and Cesium for Unreal to create interactive applications for education, training, safety awareness, facility guidance, and communication. 

 A 3D model of a construction site used in gamified content. Courtesy CalTa Inc.

With point clouds, photogrammetry, 3D models, and Gaussian splatting, complex environments such as railways, power plants, urban spaces, and public facilities can be recreated in digital space with high fidelity. Teams use this data to understand the structure of a facility, grasp the relationship between different pieces of equipment, learn safety considerations, help younger engineers understand the full context of a site that is not easily accessible, or communicate the role and value of infrastructure to local communities and stakeholders. 

TRANCITY ARCADE, jointly developed by CalTa and CAD CENTER, extends infrastructure 3D data so people can learn, understand, communicate, and make better decisions in the field. Cesium-powered TRANCITY ARCADE is a platform for creating experiential content by placing routes, quizzes, and interactive objects within 3D spaces generated from real-world data, such as photographs, point clouds, and 3D Gaussian splatting. 

Site data managed in TRANCITY Nebula is optimized and streamed as large-scale 3D data through Cesium ion, then brought into a real-time Unreal Engine experience through Cesium for Unreal while preserving geospatial context. 

TRANCITY ARCADE: Turning infrastructure data into experiential applications 

TRANCITY and TRANCITY Nebula have played an important role as platforms for capturing, managing, and sharing infrastructure 3D data. Recording sites, managing point clouds and 3D models, and enabling stakeholders to refer to the same spatial information are foundational steps in making infrastructure data useful. 

What makes TRANCITY ARCADE noteworthy is that infrastructure data captured, managed, and shared through TRANCITY Nebula can be used in connection with TRANCITY ARCADE and extended into applications for education and experiential learning. 

In ARCADE, 3D data captured from the field is not merely something to view. Instead, it becomes a space where users can design experiences according to their purpose. Users set movement routes inside a recreated facility or site, place quizzes at specific equipment or risk points, switch viewpoints to understand the entire facility, and use interactive objects to learn scale, context, and safety considerations that are difficult to convey through paper documents or slides alone. 

The goal is not gamification itself. In infrastructure training and education, learning is about more than memorizing information; it requires understanding spatial relationships, recognizing situations, and connecting that knowledge to real-world action. TRANCITY ARCADE turns site data into this kind of learning environment.

Gamified content themed around bridge inspection. Courtesy CalTa Inc. 

Use cases for education, safety, and facility understanding at J-POWER 

A good example comes from J-POWER. At large-scale infrastructure facilities, like power plants, understanding the site itself is not easy. Equipment is distributed across wide areas, structures are complex, and not every location can be freely accessed. In safety education, there are also limits to what risks can be experienced directly in the field. 

J-POWER is working with CalTa to develop and evaluate gamified content using Cesium for Unreal for infrastructure assets, such as power plants. New employees and younger engineers can learn the full context of a facility more quickly. perspectives. Managers can explain relationships between equipment and spaces more intuitively. For these scenarios, 3D space becomes an environment that supports learning and judgment. 

Experiencing real-world facilities while preserving their geospatial context can help both infrastructure professionals and the public better understand facilities and their surrounding environments. Cesium helps make these experiences possible by connecting real-world data to interactive applications while maintaining that context.

This type of experiential approach has significant potential for safety training. Even in places that are not easy to visit in person, or environments where access is restricted for safety reasons, users can build situational understanding and learn through interactive quizzes and related experiences. Rather than simply memorizing procedures, users can understand through experience why something is dangerous and where their attention should be directed. Even when failure is not acceptable in the real world, an experiential space allows people to learn through trial and error. 

These experiences are not limited to internal training. They can also help communicate infrastructure facilities that are usually difficult to access to local communities and general stakeholders. Infrastructure is essential to society, but its role and mechanisms are often difficult for the public to see or understand. 

TRANCITY ARCADE offers a practical example of how industrial 3D experiences can be applied today, as experiences connected to real facilities, real work, and the real people who learn from and engage with them. Creating environments that make learning more engaging, active, and safe has value for companies, for the people who work there, and for the communities around them. 

Gamified content being developed and evaluated by J-POWER and CalTa. Courtesy J-POWER.

Connecting infrastructure expertise with real-time 3D implementation 

TRANCITY ARCADE brings together complementary strengths: CalTa’s infrastructure data expertise and CAD CENTER’s real-time 3D implementation capabilities. In TRANCITY ARCADE, these two areas of expertise are connected through Cesium’s geospatial technology to turn site data into a useful application. 

CalTa has worked on capturing, managing, and using site data in railway and infrastructure domains and provides a platform for handling infrastructure 3D data through TRANCITY Nebula. TRANCITY ARCADE is an extension of this work: it takes infrastructure data accumulated for management and visualization and extends it into applications for education and experience. 

CAD CENTER has long worked on 3D city models, digital twin visualization, and real-time 3D expression. It has implementation expertise in technologies such as Cesium for Unreal and Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles, as well as in spatial visualization, facility environments, and interactive experience design. 

CalTa’s knowledge of infrastructure data use and CAD CENTER’s real-time 3D implementation capabilities come together on a geospatial foundation built with Cesium: 

Cesium ion, the platform for hosting, tiling, and streaming 3D data; 

3D Tiles, the format for efficient and optimized data; and 

Cesium for Unreal, the plugin for unlocking the 3D geospatial ecosystem for game engines. 

Another key characteristic of TRANCITY ARCADE is its no-code approach. Routes, quizzes, and interactive objects can be configured without specialized game development expertise. 

With CalTa, CAD CENTER, and Cesium coming together in TRANCITY ARCADE, site data, geospatial technology, domain understanding, and experience design are integrated, enabling an industrial application for education and training. 

Gamified content being created in TRANCITY ARCADE. Courtesy CalTa Inc. 

From recorded sites to spaces for learning and action 

The value of 3D data expands when it reaches people in a form that supports understanding, learning, judgment, and action. 

TRANCITY ARCADE extends infrastructure data from “3D for viewing” to “3D for using,” creating concrete operational value in education, safety awareness, and facility understanding. Cesium provides the foundation for connecting real-world 3D data to practical applications while preserving geospatial context. 

Get started with your own Cesium ion account. 

インフラデータを、学び、判断し、伝えるための体験空間へ 

For industries managing vast linear infrastructure like railways and power lines, safety and reliability are paramount—and ensuring that safety requires constant monitoring and analysis of immense volumes of data. The Cross Product, a software development company specializing in LiDAR data processing, addressed this challenge by creating TCP Studio, a 3D visualization platform built with Cesium.

TCP Studio V9

From raw data to a custom visualization platform

The Cross Product recognized a critical gap in their users’ workflows: while TCP could process massive point clouds to extract meaningful information, users often lacked the specialized tools to visualize and interact with these rich datasets. This was a barrier to turning processed data into timely, actionable insights for infrastructure management.

To bridge this gap, The Cross Product developed TCP Studio, a SaaS solution built from the ground up using CesiumJS. The Cross Product also converts LAS point clouds into 3D Tiles via Cesium ion’s tiling pipeline. “Previously, we assumed clients had their own visualization tools, which was only partially true,” explained Elise Vi Nhu Ba, R&D engineer at The Cross Product. “A dedicated interface is now a significant advantage, allowing us to showcase our solutions’ capabilities through a custom-built environment with full control over the UX.”

This control is crucial. TCP Studio provides an intuitive web-based interface where clients can explore their infrastructure in a high-fidelity 3D environment, interact with processed data, identify issues, and make informed decisions—all without needing to install or maintain their own complex software.

As part of the Bentley Activate program, a startup accelerator designed to support companies building innovative solutions on digital twin platforms, The Cross Product was able to maximize the work of a small team and accelerate their work with the Cesium platform.

The TCP Studio Project Explorer provides a high-level overview of infrastructure assets, overlaid on Sentinel-2 imagery via Cesium ion. Courtesy The Cross Product. 

Speed and automation: accelerating time to value

One of the most significant advantages The Cross Product gained from building with Cesium was development speed. Following an agile approach, the team delivered the first demonstration version of TCP Studio in just three months. This rapid prototyping validated their approach and enabled them to present a working solution to their users early in the development cycle.

This speed translates directly to client value. By using Cesium ion to tile massive LAS point clouds into 3D Tiles streamed to CesiumJS, TCP Studio delivers reliable performance, even with complex scenes. The platform also features solutions for automated measurements and issue detection. For example, users can automatically detect and flag areas where the track gauge on a railway is outside of the specified tolerance. This automation saves significant time and allows engineers to focus on critical maintenance tasks.

The Cross Product points to Cesium for a 10% growth in revenue in Q1 2026 by enabling new deals and creating a recurrent revenue stream through subscriptions.

TCP Studio features automatic detection of potential issues in large infrastructure projects. Courtesy The Cross Product.

A scalable foundation for high-performance geospatial visualization and analysis

The ability to quickly build and deliver a high-performance, scalable 3D visualization and analysis solution for massive geospatial datasets was crucial for The Cross Product.

Leveraging CesiumJS for visualization and Cesium ion for data tiling and hosting, The Cross Product was able to focus on its core expertise: developing advanced LiDAR processing algorithms and creating a tailored user experience.

“Cesium enabled us to transform massive LiDAR datasets into actionable insights and empower clients to remotely manage and explore their infrastructure within a high-performance, large-scale 3D platform.”

Elise Vi Nhu Ba, R&D Engineer, The Cross Product

Users can dive into detailed 3D views of their infrastructure, create and manage issues, and analyze measurements within TCP Studio. Courtesy The Cross Product.

For large infrastructure projects, CesiumJS provides a foundation for scalable and customizable solutions for end users. For more information about this project, contact Andrés Serna, CEO, The Cross Product. Explore how open source CesiumJS can help bring 3D visualizations in browser to your users. 

The Cross Product Transforms Raw LiDAR Data into Actionable Infrastructure Insights with Cesium

Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of England’s most iconic estates, faces a monumental challenge: maintaining a 300-year-old building that welcomes over one million visitors annually, while also serving as a lived-in residence.

Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of England’s most iconic estates. Courtesy Blenheim Palace.

To keep up with these challenges, Blenheim Palace has invested in an IoT sensor network that monitors all sorts of data from the building, such as temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, and footfall.

The data, pouring in from over 30 platforms, became too much for their building management system (BMS) to take in and ended up siloed, often buried in folders. Maintenance teams, facing restoration costs of £4 million a year and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data, found it nearly impossible to get a comprehensive picture of the state of the palace, let alone plan for the future.

At 300 years old, Blenheim Palace requires constant maintenance and reconstruction work. Courtesy Blenheim Palace.

That’s all changed now that they’ve developed a digital twin of Blenheim Palace, built with Cesium, that provides a single source of truth for the state of the palace. IoT sensors feed real-time alerts into a unified platform, allowing maintenance teams to visualize issues in context, plan restoration work proactively, and even receive automated notifications when environmental thresholds are breached.

Blenheim digital twin for smart conservation

Blenheim Palace’s digital twin was born with the announcement of the Cesium Design Tiler and Add-In for Autodesk Revit. The team at Blenheim saw that the 3D Tiles open standard would allow them to efficiently stream heavy Revit files into a lightweight environment, providing a frontend through which they could access all of the IoT data they were collecting.

Loaded in CesiumJS, the interactive palace model streams smoothly despite its size and complexity thanks to 3D tiling via the Cesium ion for Autodesk Revit Add-In.  Courtesy Blenheim Palace.

In partnership with the Heritage Innovation Laboratory Oxford and Oxford Brookes University, Blenheim’s team worked to make their BIM model the foundation of a digital twin. They sliced their architectural model into over 14,000 individual elements, each tied to metadata: material type, historical repairs, risk assessments, etc. Then, using the Revit add-in and the Design Tiler in Cesium ion, they tiled the model into 3D Tiles. Now with a model that retained all the detail and metadata of the original but tiled for smooth navigation, they loaded the 3D Tileset into CesiumJS.

The original palace model came from a scanned point cloud, corrected by architects and tied to floor plans. Courtesy Blenheim Palace.

With the Revit model as the frontend, the palace’s intricate structure became an interactive digital twin. The model of the palace is easy to navigate, accessible to both technical and non-technical staff. Users can filter views of the site, for example, by restoration needs deemed most urgent in a recent risk assessment.

Users can filter views of the site, for example, by restoration needs deemed most urgent in a recent risk assessment. Courtesy Blenheim Palace.

Behind the interactive model sits Blenheim’s entire IoT network. By centralizing data with Cesium and automating alerts, Blenheim Palace reduced manual oversight and enabled proactive maintenance, potentially lowering restoration costs by up to 10%.

Blenheim Palace’s digital twin has a growing database currently exceeding 150 million rows of environmental and building data, fed by IoT sensors integrated with BMS controllers. Courtesy Blenheim Palace.

Predictive maintenance guided by AI insights

The digital twin also contains archival data tied to the model. This historic view, developed by Clara Saliba, makes the model a portal to the archives, giving users access to decades of maintenance history and to machine learning models trained to identify patterns in stonefall, water ingress, and exfoliation. These machine learning models are expected to enable predictive maintenance and sustainable energy use.

“Heritage isn’t just about preserving the past—it’s about imagining its future. With Cesium ion, we turned our Revit model from a virtual replica into a digital twin of Blenheim Palace—a dynamic simulation that tracks condition and restoration data, identifies inefficiencies, predicts future needs, and transforms how we manage heritage through technology.” 

- David Green, Head of Innovation, Blenheim Palace

The digital twin isn’t just about capturing the current state of the building. The Blenheim team is using this data to reach specific goals: Blenheim Palace aims to be carbon net zero by 2027, and a precise, real-time view into the building allows them to track energy usage and optimize systems via smart controllers to meet this ambitious goal.

"The Digital Twin at Blenheim Palace has been the flagship project for the Heritage Innovations Laboratory Oxford since its inception in 2022. As soon as we began collaborating with Cesium in the winter of last year, we began making rapid progress in pursuing our collective goals of linking heritage science and digital twinning to arrive at predictive solutions for managing built heritage environments." 

- Mr. Sterling MacKinnon III, Heritage Innovations Laboratory Oxford

Future steps for the Blenheim Palace digital twin

Looking ahead, Blenheim team plans to add even more granularity to their digital twin: they’d like to slice it even further to capture more architectural details and to include household items like tapestries and furniture. They expect the model to eventually grow from its current 14,000 elements to over 50,000. In addition, they foresee being able to run frequent drone surveys of the building to provide regular updates on the state of the structure.

Blenheim Palace’s digital twin provides a model other heritage sites could use for smart conservation. Courtesy Blenheim Palace.

Blenheim’s team also built their digital twin with an eye to other heritage sites that could benefit from similar analysis. Few heritage sites around the world have the internal technical expertise that Blenheim has cultivated, and the Blenheim team has designed their digital twin to scale. They plan to develop their system into a broadly applicable platform other locations could also use, offering a model for sustainable digital conservation.

In Blenheim Palace’s digital twin, Cesium provides a spatial environment that has become the index to accessing, visualizing, and analyzing a host of data about the building. Here the palace is shown together with Cesium World Terrain and satellite imagery at its real world location. Courtesy Blenheim Palace.

To tile your own Revit models as 3D Tiles, making them streamable over the web or in runtime engines like Unreal Engine and Unity, download the add-in from the Autodesk App Store, the Cesium downloads page, or the GitHub repo.

Blenheim Palace Performing Smart Conservation with Cesium

When a court case following a serious automobile accident could benefit from a visualization of the incident, attorneys turn to Forensic Rock, a Philadelphia company that creates visualizations of accident scenes using tire marks, LiDAR scans, and other physical evidence. With Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles and Cesium for Unreal, Forensic Rock delivers immersive, accurate reconstructions with speed and precision.

Forensic Rock recreates accident scenes for court cases using Photorealistic 3D Tiles and Cesium for Unreal. Courtesy Forensic Rock.

Visualizing car accidents using Cesium for Unreal

Forensic Rock

In one urgent case, Forensic Rock animators were given only two weeks to reconstruct an accident. They completed their animation on time thanks to Cesium for Unreal.

Forensic Rock’s typical process is to complete a LiDAR scan of the site, then build the scene and add an animation of the circumstances of the accident. By using Cesium for Unreal, they were able to forgo the labor intensive scanning and modeling stage. Through Cesium ion, animators had instant access to curated global datasets, including Photorealistic 3D Tiles, which gave them the real-world terrain and building data from the exact crash location needed for the scene.

With Photorealistic 3D Tiles, Forensic Rock can focus on visualizations without losing time to scanning and modeling the environment. Courtesy Forensic Rock.

Using Photorealistic 3D Tiles from the exact location of the accident, as well as police report data about the vehicle’s speed and position, they plotted a point-to-point crash trajectory that clearly demonstrated the path of the accident. The result was a compelling, data-driven animation that attorneys could use in court.

“While the forensics business often presents stressful deadlines, the integration of Cesium into our pipeline ensures we are always prepared.” 

Because Cesium is built around open standards, animators have access to high-quality datasets like Photorealistic 3D Tiles to bridge the gap between raw data and visual storytelling—making their work not just technically impressive but also impactful in legal contexts. Sign up for a Cesium ion account to bring real-world datasets into your application.

Forensic Rock Accelerates Accident Reconstruction with Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles

Cesiumは、Japan 3Dコンテンツをアップデートしました。このコンテンツには、新たに Japan Regional Terrainが加わりました。このデータセットは、国土地理院 (GSI) が公開している基盤地図情報に基づいています。 Japan Regional Terrainデータセットは、1mから10mの解像度で日本の高解像度地形面を提供します。Japan Regional TerrainとJapan 3D Buildingsデータセットの組み合わせは、デジタルツインアプリケーションとソリューションを構築するための基盤を提供します。 

また、Japan 3D Buildingsもアップデートしました。 Japan 3D Buildingsは、 国全体の単一データセットで、 日本の国土交通省PLATEAUプラットフォームのオープンソースCityGMLデータセットから派生したものです。

アップデートには以下が含まれます： 

利用可能な高解像度地形に合わせて、建物の高さを更新

PLATEAUのCityGMLデータで利用可能な橋梁要素の追加

これらのアップデートは、都市計画、開発提案、複数の建築設計オプションの提示、現実的な日照・日影調査のためのデジタルツインビジュアライゼーションの作成において、Japan 3D Buildingsの全体的な精度と使いやすさの向上に役立ちます。

Japan 3D Buildingsに2,000以上の橋梁要素が加わりました。

このアップデートは、日本の国土交通省のPLATEAU 3D都市モデルデータからコンパイルされ、日本全国にある2,300万以上の3D建物と2,000以上の3D橋梁が含まれています。 この3Dデータは、Cesium ion Asset Depotを通じて、Cesium ion Stories、Cesium JS、またはUnreal、Unity、Nvidia Omniverse用のランタイムで使用できる単一のタイルセットとして提供されます。

CesiumJSで地形と橋を更新したJapan 3D Buildings。

このリリースは、前回のJapan 3D Buildingsに続き、Cesiumの重要なパートナーであり、Cesium Certified DeveloperでもあるPacific Spatial Solutions (PSS)社の協力によって実現しました。PSSは、地理空間に関する深い知識と優れたデジタルツイン技術を持ち、協力的なアプローチが評価されている信頼性の高い団体であり、日本政府からも重要なデータセットの管理を任されています。

「Cesium社がCesium ion のアセットとして配信する国交省PLATEAUの3D都市モデルと、この度リリースされた高解像度のPLATEAU地形データとともに利用すれば、これまで個人や企業では実現困難であった高精度の3Dデータの活用が劇的に簡単になります。だれでも高精度3Dデータが活用できる時代の到来です！」Pacific Spatial Solutions 株式会社　代表取締役 今木 洋大 様

Japan 3D BuildingsとJapan Regional Terrainデータセットは、Cesium ion Asset Depotで直接ご利用いただけます。アクセスするには、Cesium ion にサインインするか、サインアップして、「My Assets 」に追加してストリーミングを開始してください。

最新のデータを、自己環境でストリーミングしたい場合には、セールスチームにお問合せ下さい。Japan 3D Buildings と Japan Regional Terrain データは Cesium ion Self-Hostedでも利用可能です。

Cesium has released updates to our available Japan 3D Content. Our content offerings now include Japan Regional Terrain data. This dataset is based on the Fundamental Geospatial Data published by Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI). The Japan Regional Terrain dataset provides a high resolution terrain surface of Japan with resolutions ranging from 1m to 10m. The combination of Japan Regional Terrain with Japan 3D Buildings provides a foundation for building digital twin applications and solutions. 

We’ve also updated Japan 3D Buildings. Japan 3D Buildings is a single, countrywide dataset derived from Japan’s MLIT Plateau Platform open source CityGML datasets. The update includes: 

Updated building heights that align with available high resolution terrain

Addition of bridge features available in PLATEAU’s CityGML data

These updates will improve the overall accuracy and usability of Japan 3D Buildings in the creation of digital twin visualizations for urban planning, development proposals, presenting multiple building design options, and realistic sun and shadow studies.

Japan 3D Buildings now includes over 2,000 bridge features.

This update is compiled from Japan’s MLIT PLATEAU 3D City model data and contains more than 23 million 3D buildings combined with over 2,000 3D bridge features across Japan. This 3D data is made available in a single tileset available through the Cesium ion Asset Depot that can be used with Cesium Stories, CesiumJS, or our runtimes for Unreal Engine, Unity, and NVIDIA Omniverse.

Japan 3D Buildings with updated terrain and bridges in CesiumJS.

We’d like to recognize our valued partner and Cesium Certified Developer, Pacific Spatial Solutions (PSS), whose expertise in geospatial and digital twin technology has been instrumental in this release. They previously supported us in releasing Japan 3D Buildings. PSS’s deep knowledge and collaborative approach have made them a reliable partner, earning the trust of the Japanese government in managing critical datasets.

“Together with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's PLATEAU 3D city model distributed by Cesium as a Cesium ion asset and the recently released high-resolution PLATEAU terrain data, the use of high-precision 3D data, which has been difficult for individuals and companies to achieve, will become dramatically easier. The era in which anyone can utilize high-precision 3D data has arrived!” - Hiroo Imaki, President, Pacific Spatial Solutions

The Japan 3D Building and Japan Regional Terrain dataset are available directly in the Cesium ion Asset Depot. To access, sign into Cesium ion, or sign up, and add them to “My Assets” to start streaming. 

Contact our sales team to learn how you can stream this data from your own environment. Japan 3D Buildings and Japan Regional Terrain data can also be licensed with Cesium ion Self-Hosted.

Japan 3D コンテンツのアップデート

In April 2024, AERO AI, a Cesium Certified Developer, was awarded a Cesium Ecosystem Grant to reintegrate Cesium ion and WebODM, a free and open source drone imagery processing platform from OpenDroneMap.

The OpenDroneMap community can now tile aerial data as 3D Tiles directly from the WebODM dashboard.

AERO AI’s Cesium Ecosystem Grant supports the WebODM Reintegration Project, focusing on the WebODM Cesium plugin. The plugin enables users from AEC, environmental conservation, geospatial analysis, and beyond to benefit from the ability to integrate, process, analyze, and visualize aerial data and 3D geospatial information.

Workflow for a user to process drone imagery in OpenDroneMap’s WebODM and upload to Cesium ion. Courtesy AERO AI.

Developed by OpenDroneMap, WebODM is open source software for drone image processing that is widely used by drone pilots, organizations, and academic institutions. It allows users to generate maps, point clouds, DEMs, and 3D models from aerial imagery. With the Cesium ion plugin, users can effortlessly upload this data to Cesium ion, where it is transformed into 3D Tiles for diverse applications. These include creating scalable, high-resolution immersive experiences and digital twins of buildings and urban environments. Users can also produce maps for disaster recovery, urban planning, wildlife management, and environmental monitoring, providing critical insights into terrain changes over time and improving decision-making for projects that require precise spatial analysis.